Shedding Some Light on ...Nuclear Energy

Shedding Some Light on ...Nuclear Energy

Here are a few links to articles on nuclear energy - you know that green energy.

Bird poop on the lines causes nuclear power shutdown

By Euan McKirdy, CNN

Updated 7:28 AM ET, Fri March 4, 2016

Indian Point, on the Hudson River 24 miles north of New York City, was the subject of a shutdown in December thanks to bird excrement causing a breaker to trip.

Story highlights

• Bird "streamer" causes reactor shut down
• Poop caused an arc between two wires, activating a trip

(CNN)An errant bird dropping appears to have caused the temporary shutdown of part of the Indian Point nuclear plant in upstate New York. 

A report by Entergy, the site operator, pointed the finger at a bird "streamer" -- colorfully explained in the document as "long streams of excrement from large birds that are often expelled as a bird takes off from a perch" -- as the cause of the shutdown, which tripped a safety breaker and took a reactor at the site out of commission for three days in December. 

Read: How close is your home to a nuclear power plant?

There was no leak of radiation as a result of the accident, and at no time was public health and safety in jeopardy, the report to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission noted.

While, more commonly, the buildup of guano on the lines hampers operating efficiency, in this case the report said that it had caused an electrical arc between wires at a transmission tower.

If a streamer contacts an energized conductor, the report says, the current can travel up the stream of poop back to the bird or its perch, resulting in "bird electrocution, power outage and/or line trip."

Thankfully, the document reported that no bird carcasses were found in the vicinity of the transmission tower.

Additional anti-avian security will be put in place to minimize the chances of another poop-related outage. 

"Additionally, bird guards will be installed on Entergy-owned 345 kV and 138 kV Transmission Towers to preclude the effects of bird streaming," the report said.

Last year, a fire that ruptured a transformer at the nuclear plant sent several thousand gallons of oil spilling into the adjacent Hudson River.

No one was injured in the blaze, though responding to a question about the impact on wildlife in the river, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters at the time, "it's obviously not good."

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FPL nuclear plant canals leaking into Biscayne Bay, study confirms

FPL nuclear plant canals leaking into Biscayne Bay, study confirms

Radioactive ‘tracer’ detected at up to 215 normal levels near canals
County commission set to discuss cooling canal problems Tuesday
Threat from pollution to public, marine life not addressed in report

Recent sampling of water in Biscayne Bay found higher than normal levels of tritium, a rare hydrogen isotope produced by nuclear reactors and used to track water leaking from Turkey Point’s cooling canals. Tim Chapman Miami Herald Staff

By Jenny Staletovich
jstaletovich@miamiherald.com

A radioactive isotope linked to water from power plant cooling canals has been found in high levels in Biscayne Bay, confirming suspicions that Turkey Point’s aging canals are leaking into the nearby national park.

FPL nuclear plant canals likely violating water quality laws

 According to a study released Monday by Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez, water sampling in December and January found tritium levels up to 215 times higher than normal in ocean water. The report doesn’t address risks to the public or marine life but tritium is typically monitored as a “tracer” of nuclear power plant leaks or spills.

The study comes two weeks after a Tallahassee judge ordered the utility and the state to clean up the nuclear plant’s cooling canals after concluding that they had caused a massive underground saltwater plume to migrate west, threatening a wellfield that supplies drinking water to the Florida Keys. The judge also found the state failed to address the pollution by crafting a faulty management plan.
This latest test, critics say, raise new questions about what they’ve long suspected: That canals that began running too hot and salty the summer after FPL overhauled two reactors to produce more power could also be polluting the bay.

“How much damage is that cooling canal system causing the bay is a question to be answered,” said Everglades Law Center attorney Julie Dick, who had not had a chance to review the report. “There are a lot more unknowns than knowns and it just shows how much more attention we need to be paying to that cooling canal system.”

County commissioners, who have kept a close eye on the canals and objected to the state’s management plan, ordered the additional monitoring of bay water last year. The commission is scheduled to discuss the canals, along with another study by University of Miami hydrologist David Chin examining problems linked to adding more water to the canals, at a meeting Tuesday.
FPL officials declined to comment Monday evening.

Over the last two years, problems with the canals have worsened exponentially. After the 2013 plant expansion to increase power output by 15 percent, the canals began running dangerously high. FPL officials blamed problems on an algae bloom that worsened after the canals were temporarily shut down during the project. But when a summer drought hit in 2014, temperatures spiked. At least twice, when temperatures soared to 102 degrees, the utility was nearly forced to power down reactors.
After obtaining permission from nuclear regulators to operate the canals at 104 degrees, the hottest in the nation, FPL officials began plotting a course to fix the canals by pumping in millions of gallons of fresh water from a nearby canal as well as increasing the amount of water drawn from the Floridan aquifer.

But the growing saltwater plume triggered regulatory scrutiny. After the county complained, the state ordered a new management plan, called an administrative order, to address problems. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection declined to cite FPL for violating state water laws and instead crafted a plan that critics said gave the utility license to continue to pollute. The plan, hastily approved two days before Christmas, was quickly challenged by county officials, as well as environmentalists and rock miners.

The county settled its challenge in October after FPL agreed to a series of actions to clean up the plume that included constructing a barrier made up of extraction wells. The utility also agreed to try to use salty water from the Floridan aquifer, rather than freshwater from the nearby canal intended for Biscayne Bay, or treated wastewater from a nearby county sewer plant.

The decree also called for increased monitoring that in the fall gave the first indication the canals had leaked into the bay when monitoring detected elevated levels of ammonia and phosphorus. After those findings, staff and FPL returned for another round of tests and to get a better read on what was happening in the bay.


Earlier sampling was taken near the bottom of the bay, where researchers expected to find evidence of the groundwater plume that had been documented west of the canals. For the most recent round, water was studied at varying depths. Samplers found that while water at the surface met most county water quality standards, nearly all the standards were exceeded at the bottom.

The county also looked for traces of tritium, a naturally occurring hydrogen isotope often found in minute amounts in groundwater but also commonly produced by high energy neutrons in a nuclear reactor. Tritium emits a relatively weak form of radiation that is not considered hazardous at low levels.

130 to 215 times
The higher rate of tritium in Biscayne Bay

Over the last five years, the report said, cooling canal water typically has tritium at levels 60 to more than 800 times higher than in the bay. Tritium at the bottom of the bay close to the canals ranged from more than 130 to 215 times higher — high enough to suggest a consistent flow from the sprawling cooling system.

County staff concluded the findings are “the most compelling evidence” that canal water has spread into the bay.

While the county’s consent decree requires FPL to address the spread, staff said more study is needed to determine exactly what’s going on and come up with a long-term remedy for cleaning up the canals.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article64667452.html#storylink=cpy

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Robot death at Fukushima: Bots sent to repair damage at nuclear power plant have died

On Friday, Japan marked the fifth anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. Robots sent to repair the site are ‘dying’ – as soon as the robots get close to the damaged reactors, their circuits get destroyed because of the radiation, reported Newsweek.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), owner of the power plant, had sent in numerous bots inside the power plant after an earthquake triggered a Tsunami that damaged the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

According to Mirror, the robots were sent in since it was and is impossible for human beings to enter into the core of the pant to remove the fuel rods with the amount of radiation in each of the buildings.
These robots, which take close to 2 years to build, are specifically designed to meet the requirements of the plant and can even swim underwater. But soon as they come to close to the reactors to eliminate the fuel rods, the radiation contaminates them, destroys their wiring and renders them useless.

Representational image. AFP

Ice wall
Tepco is building a massive ice wall to keep the groundwater clean and uncontaminated with all the radiation emanating basements of damaged buildings, said the Newsweek report.

Keeping the groundwater from getting contaminated ensures the Pacific Ocean doesn’t get polluted. While some of the radiation has permeated into Pacific, the ice wall has significantly reduced the amount.

The earthquake and the Tsunami killed 19,000 people, according to Mirror and displaced some 16,000 people – a disaster that will go down as one of the worst.

Tepco has been active in cleaning up the plant after the disaster and has managed to bring radiation levels. Parts of the operation are laying piping, dismantling parts, building storage tanks, removing the debris.

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• STATE HOUSE NEWS: Activists to remember Fukushima, call for Pilgrim's immediate closure

Activists who have spent years calling for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station's closure are set to gather in Boston on Friday to mark the five-year anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station catastrophe and to call for Pilgrim's immediate shutdown.

• 
  

  By Michael P. Norton
  STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

  Posted Mar. 11, 2016 at 10:22 AM
  Updated at 10:27 AM
  
  
  

  Activists who have spent years calling for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station's closure are set to gather in Boston on Friday to mark the five-year anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station catastrophe and to call for Pilgrim's immediate shutdown.

  According to published reports, Japanese officials are still evaluating the extent of the damage in the wake of the plant's meltdown which was triggered by an earthquake and tsunami. The Guardian reported Thursday on "lower radiation levels in and around the plant," better conditions for Tokyo Electric Power Company staff, and "progress in containing huge quantities of radioactive groundwater," but also reported "work on removing the melted fuel - something no nuclear operator has ever attempted - has barely begun."

  Locally, activists from Cape Cod and other areas near the Plymouth plant continue to draw comparisons between the designs of the Fukushima and Pilgrim plants and plan to call attention to the massive displacement of people and vast environmental damage and property losses associated with Fukushima.

  "What is clear is that the government and TEPCO [Tokyo Electric Power Company], owner of the Fukushima nuclear reactors, have no idea of how to mitigate the ongoing damage," Cape Downwinders wrote in an advisory promoting their plans to remember the victims of Fukushima and remind state residents that US regulators have placed Pilgrim in a category of the worst-performing nuclear plants.

  Activists plan to gather near the State House's Hooker Statue at 12:30 p.m. and deliver a letter outlining their concerns to Gov. Charlie Baker's office at 1:15 p.m. The governor is vacationing in Utah.

  On Sept. 2, 2015, federal nuclear industry regulators said they would increase oversight of Pilgrim after inspectors raised concerns about findings associated with the performance of a safety relief valve. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's findings stemmed from a special inspection at the plant, which is owned by Entergy, following its unplanned shutdown in January.

  On Oct. 13, 2015 Pilgrim officials announced plans to shut down by June 1, 2019, saying their decision was driven by low energy prices, reduced revenues and increased operational costs. Plant owner Entergy said Pilgrim would close by June 1, 2019, with the exact timing to be determined during the first half of 2016 following talks with ISO-New England, the region's electric grid operator.

  The loss of baseline power from the plant is a major factor in ongoing energy bill talks on Beacon Hill. Pilgrim began operations in 1972 and generates 680 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power more than 600,000 homes. In a legislative arena marked by heavy lobbying, hydropower, offshore wind, natural gas, and solar power interests are competing for shares of the long-term energy supply mix.

  According to ISO-New England, Pilgrim is among the region's largest power plants and one of three remaining nuclear stations in New England. The grid operator estimates nuclear power generated 34 percent of the electricity produced in New England in 2014, with natural gas generating 44 percent of the power. Before Pilgrim announced its plans to close, ISO estimated that more than 3,500 megawatts, or 10 percent of New England's generation, had retired or would retire over the next few years, including mostly oil and coal-fired plants. Of the 11,000 megawatts of proposed new generation, two-thirds would use natural gas and most of the rest would use wind to generate power, ISO said.